Re-routing - Preparing the Walnut for Assembly!

Once the various stringers had been laminated together, the next step would be to rout channels in the wood to add the sheets of maple plywood which would make up the structure of the sides, doors, back, and eventually the playing surface as well. How well the whole table went together would depend on getting these steps right, so a lot of planning went into how we'd not only put the channels into the walnut stringers but what tools would be needed. In the photo below you can see not only some of the components of the build, but a finish tester we're using to try and decide on what sort of final finish we're going to use on the project (as it never hurts to look ahead!).

Getting a Leg Up - First Steps Toward a Gaming Table

With the decision made to go ahead and try to build my own version of the Geek Chic Spartan Table, step one was to reverse engineer the plans and layout of the original as much as possible. The Geek Chic site was down (and has since been taken over by malware cyber-squatters - don't go there!), but some versions of the PDF brochures could still be found along with a few photos and videos posted by the lucky few to actually receive a table. The first decision I made was not to do an exact copy of the Spartan, but rather to make a couple of modifications I thought would make the table more user-friendly. In the original Spartan design, there was a shelf which covered the entire bottom of the table (and essentially served as a key structural piece). This means that no one could sit next to the table itself in a chair as they would either be resting their feet on the maple (bad idea) or would simply have to be back from the table at all times. This would be okay if the rail system was in use 100% of the time with attachments, but as I figured that would most likely not be the case, I decided to push back that cross member to be even with the doors (and the back plate on the opposite side).